Race Retro Classic & Competition Car Sale 2023 24th - 25th February 2023

152 Race Retro Classic and Competition Car Sale 2023 - Cars In the early sixties, when young men were trundling around in TR3s, MGAs and Morgans, the arrival of the Lotus Elan was like a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of the future. Ron Hickman’s styling was simple yet elegant, with faired-in bumpers and pop-up headlights, it was one of the best-handling cars ever and Ford’s powerful new Twin-Cam offered racing car technology for the high street. Most enthusiasts have entertained the notion of owning an Elan at some point, many of us still do, and Deryck Norville, the curator of the Piddington Collection, obviously felt the same way. I don’t imagine for one second that when he collected his first Elan from the restorer that a few years later he would own seven of the most important Lotus Elans in the World in a small private museum behind his house.He is a former Cosworth engineer and founder of Pipercross Filters, a busy and successful man with many contacts within the motor industry and knew Ken and Neil Myers, acknowledged as being amongst the very best Lotus restorers in the world. Over the years they have been responsible for restoring all seven of the Piddington cars to a fairly clear brief; all the cars had to retain the original body, engine and chassis and there was no time constraint, the cars simply had to be ‘the best’, in Deryck’s words “beyond Concours”. Each car has a full photographic record of the process where the exacting standards can clearly be appreciated. When each car was finished, it was trailered to Deryck’s home, run up to temperature, fully checked and then drained of fluids before being rolled into its allocated place in The Elan Room. They have not turned a wheel on the open road apart from the Ron Hickman car which was purchased in Jersey. In the world of Toy Collecting, the expression ‘Mint and Boxed’ is self-explanatory and it would be safe to say that the contents of Deryck’s grown-up toy cupboard are undoubtedly, ‘Mint and Boxed’. We are delighted to present this exquisite Collection to market. The Piddington Collection